The National Iranian Gas Company’s capacity to export natural gas stands at 75 million cubic meters per day.
Hamidreza Araqi, managing director of NIGC, made the statement in an interview with ISNA in Tehran.
"The company is exporting as much as 57 mcm of gas per day to target destinations in Iraq, Armenia and Turkey," he added.
The country has boosted gas production to around 880 million cubic meters per day, with over two-thirds of this amount coming from South Pars, the world's largest gas field shared by Iran and Qatar in the Persian Gulf.
Giving a breakdown, Araqi said NIGC is transferring as much as 27 mcm of gas per day to two Iraqi cities, one of which is Baghdad, without naming the second city that is most probably Basra that was set to receive gas soon.
According to the official, Iraqi power plants are running on gas imported from Iran and the Arab country's electricity output is heavily dependent on the fuel.
"NIGC has sold close to 1.5 billion cubic meters of gas to Iraq since March. Iran's gas export to Iraq is set to reach 50 mcm/d this year, 25 mcm/d to each of the two cities. If the goal is achieved, Iraq will become the biggest importer of Iranian gas by overtaking Turkey," he said.
Araqi further said gas export to Turkey has fallen to 27 mcm/d as during the hot summer days, the country's import usually witnesses a seasonal decline.
Iran's gas export to Turkey stands at about 30 mcm/d in cold seasons.
On plans to boost exports, he stressed that supplying gas to neighboring states is NIGC's priority, that is why talks are underway with a few of them, including Pakistan.
"Although exporting gas via pipelines is high on its agenda, NIGC is also studying other possibilities to sell the commodity in the form of compressed natural gas or by developing small liquefied natural gas plants," he said.
Araqi believes that mini LNG plants are suitable for the supply of small amounts of liquefied gas to far-flung regions using tanker trucks or ships.
"One of the many advantages of gas compared to oil is that it is eco-friendly and if appropriate marketing strategies are adopted, it can be commercialized in international markets," he said.
Grid Safety
According to the official, Tehran's gas grid security has improved to withstand natural disasters, especially earthquakes.
"Tehran's gas network is prepared for earthquakes," he said, adding that Tehran Province Gas Company has taken measures to improve Tehran's 11,000-kilometer-long underground gas network by replacing steel pipes with polyethylene pipes that have higher flexibility and durability.
Araqi noted that a large number of unsafe flanged valves have been inspected and replaced with fully welded ones, while the safety of 760,000 gas pressure valves has improved in the province.
Gas pressure valves are normally placed on the outside of buildings, making them vulnerable to explosion.
Reportedly, 10 years ago, NIGC tasked TPGC with increasing the safety of Tehran's gas network with a $56 million budget.
Officials have played down concerns about gas explosions in the aftermath of a strong quake in the capital.
NIGC says it has devised a way to avoid major gas explosions in the aftermath of a strong quake in the capital.
A quake in urban areas is often compounded by cracks in gas pipelines that cause deadly explosions.
According to NIGC Spokesman Majid Boujarzadeh, the state gas company would cut off supply to Tehran once a strong earthquake hits the mega city.
“Some of the main gas valves will automatically be shut off if a strong earthquake hits the capital and other valves will be immediately cut off manually by the NIGC personnel,” Boujarzadeh said.
